That's it, the terrorists have won. The Transportation Security Administration just formalized its ban on traveling with automotive airbags as either carry-on or checked luggage, citing the explosive charges packed within them.

Previously, the TSA didn't find it necessary to expressly ban the bags, lumping them in with other banned high-explosives like solid rocket fuel and hand grenades. But, it seems that there's been an increase in cases of air-passengers trying to bring relatively-cheap replacement airbags from the US back to Europe in order to save money on auto repairs.

Airbags are aren't just nylon bags that magically inflate, but rather a system that incorporates a 12V actuator that detonates an explosive charge which releases hot gasses, inflating the bag. All that's packed inside your steering wheel, dashboard, seat or any other place you might find an airbag.

So next time you're getting undressed, throwing away your nail clippers, removing your laptop, packing your tiny containers of potentially-lethal toothpaste into a one quart Ziploc bag and waiting in line so that a high school dropout can can go on a power trip remember: make sure there's no airbags in your luggage. [TSA via Autoblog]